Europe seeks solutions to remedy increase in space debris
More and more satellites are being sent to space. Most of them move in what is known as low Earth orbit, about 1000 kilometers from Earth. Yet the increase of satellites has expanded demands to maintain a sustainable and clean space and to avoid coalitions. This was one of the topics of discussion at the European Space Forum in Brussels. Some companies have already started some projects to bring Internet to remote places and are adapting the satellite. The impact that Kuiper will have, all of our satellites will have active propulsion systems, which means that we can maneuver them to avoid any collision. We will also have a specific type of shielding so that whenever we have a a collision with a small debris, elements of the satellites are protected. According to ESSA data, there are about 12,500 satellites in Earth orbit. And the number keeps growing. The space race is growing and growing. And now for example, we we have from the US, we have constellations are launched into space and space becomes more and more also a business. So it's interesting for for private firms to launch satellites into space. The problem grows when satellites are no longer operational and are still in space. At the moment it is estimated that there are about 2700 in this situation. On top of this, space debris such as small parts of these devices are flying around at high speed. To prevent this, the agency has launched the 0 debris charter. The aim of this charter is to go towards 0 debris in 2013. It's a non binding document with high level objectives and also its community driven, meaning that ISA will include. Many stakeholders Brussels will present the first European Space Act in the coming months.